The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which manages Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge, is now in the process of developing the plan which will guide stewardship of the Lake Umbagog Refuge for the next decade and a half. This planning process, in which The Wilderness Society is actively involved, is the best opportunity citizens have to make sure the Refuge does the job it is supposed to do to protect the wildlife and habitat within its boundaries.
The question for the Lake Umbagog, as for many other National Wildlife Refuges in New England and elsewhere, is whether it will survive the public's affection for it in the form of greatly increased use and the slow constriction of habitat on its edges from encroaching development.
The Place
This refuge of just over 16,000 acres protects New Hampshire's largest fresh water marsh complex. It straddles the New Hampshire-Maine border. Part of the lake's 8,700 acres lie in the western mountains of Oxford County, Maine, part in New Hampshire's Coos County.
Within the Refuge are important upland forests and the largest freshwater complex in New Hampshire. The Lake's watershed includes the Dead Diamond, Swift Diamond River, Magalloway River, Dead Cambridge and Rapid Rivers. The Androscoggin River flows out of the Lake to the west before angling south at Errol, NH.
The Refuge has been part of a cooperative protection and management effort among the FWS, the States of New Hampshire and Maine and a variety of private groups-all with the goal of protecting the wildlife, wildlife habitat, wetlands and timber resources of the Refuge. The partnership has protected much of Lake Umbagog's shoreline and important stretches of the Magalloway and Upper Androscoggin Rivers. But threats to the Refuge continue.
Motorized Recreation
Recreational use around the refuge has increased dramatically in recent years. Refuge officials estimate that on a summer weekend day, there are as many as 200 boats on the lake. Jet skis and off-road vehicles increase in number and range and are particularly damaging to wildlife, habitat and the experience of visitors seeking natural sounds and quiet. Jet skis and general boating on the lake harm water quality and foster introduction of invasive non-native aquatic species. Unfortunately, the FWS has only limited jurisdiction over the water bodies and boat access to the lake and the rivers.
Development Pressure
The uplands surrounding Lake Umbagog and the surrounding rivers are important for interior forest species. They are also magnets for the subdivision and second home building that can only increase. Fragmentation, road building and overdevelopment of important habitats are a major concern across New England and no less so at this Refuge.
Increased protection of these uplands will help maintain healthy wildlife populations ranging from amphibians and reptiles to birds and mammals that depend on uplands as well as wetlands.
Where We Are Today
In the summer of 2002, FWS held public meetings in communities around Lake Umbagog to identify the range of issues its Refuge plan (called a Comprehensive Conservation Plan) must consider.
Get Involved
Your involvement in the management planning process is important. You can attend local planning meetings and get on the Refuge's mailing list. The Wilderness Society actively participates in these processes and we urge our members and friends to do so, too.
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